The Tragic Truth About Meghan Markle

Meghan Markle has dealt with her fair share of tragedy in life. While the Duchess of Sussex may seem to have it all — the prince husband, the $50 million net worth, the sweet digs in Santa Barbara, and the adoration of fans around the world — Meghan hasn't been spared all manner of trials and tribulations. And while she's handled the overwhelming amount of gossip and slander leveled against her with a stunning grace, we're pretty sure that Meghan is a bit tired of the nonsense.

Fortunately, Meghan has been able to forge out a foundation that she appreciates and enjoys with her husband, Prince Harry, and their son, Archie. Her life is rich with media deals that promote the causes she cares about, thanks to the work that Meghan and Harry are doing with their non-profit foundation, Archewell (via iNews). And now that Harry and Meghan are independent, they can take whatever path in life that they want to, unfettered from strict royal expectations.

Bearing all of that in mind, there's still a ton that Meghan has been through. So without further ado, this is the tragic truth about Meghan Markle.

One thing that Meghan Markle has been open about is her race; she's biracial, as her mother is Black and her father is white. Sadly, Meghan and her family dealt with microaggressions just for being a mixed-race family, starting when Meghan was a newborn. "And there was my mom, caramel in complexion with her light-skinned baby in tow, being asked where my mother was since they assumed she was the nanny," she penned in an essay for Elle.

Later in life when Meghan was home from college on a break, someone called Meghan's mother the N-word while in a parking lot, which naturally was devastating. "My skin rushed with heat as I looked to my mom," she continued. "Her eyes welling with hateful tears, I could only breathe out a whisper of words, so hushed they were barely audible: 'It's OK, Mommy.'" She added that she was trying to erase the pain and anger that was palpable in the air.

Those were neither the first nor last incidents of racism that Meghan has dealt with, as even more was lobbed at Meghan as an adult.

Everyone struggles while growing up, especially in middle and high school. However, Meghan Markle had to deal with more than your average person as she came of age than others as she navigated her biracial identity. As early as seventh grade, Meghan found herself having to choose between Black or white boxes on a census, which confused her. "So, I didn't tick a box," she explained in an essay for Elle. "I left my identity blank — a question mark, an absolute incomplete — much like how I felt."

Similar challenges came in high school, when once again Meghan didn't know where she belonged. "My high school had cliques: the Black girls and white girls, the Filipino and the Latina girls," she wrote on The Tig (via Express). "Being biracial, I fell somewhere in between."

Rather than winding up by herself in the cafeteria every day, Meghan threw herself into school activities as a survival mechanism. She focused on French club and student government during her lunch hour, as she was "grappling with how to fit in."

On Dec. 23, 1979, Meghan Markle's parents, Doria Ragland and Thomas Markle, tied the knot at a temple in Los Angeles (via India Today). Less than two years later, Meghan was born on Aug. 4, 1981 — but it wasn't long after that joyous day that Meghan's parents separated. According to Good Housekeeping, they called it quits when Meghan was 6 years old, when Meghan went to live with her mother.

Fortunately, Meghan was able to spend quality time with both of her parents; while she didn't live full-time with her father, she got to spend time with him on set. He was a director of both lighting and photography on the raunchy sitcom Married... with Children. "Every day after school for 10 years, I was on the set of Married... with Children, which is a really funny and perverse place for a little girl in a Catholic school uniform to grow up," Meghan recalled in a chat with Esquire.

So even though her parents split up, Meghan had normal relationships with both of them, though it couldn't have been an easy time for her when they split.

After graduating from high school and college, Meghan Markle moved to Hollywood to try and make it as an actor. However, Meghan still carried her insecurities with her, which led her to be quite rough on herself for a long time. "My 20s were brutal — a constant battle with myself, judging my weight, my style, my desire to be as cool/as hip/as smart/as 'whatever' as everyone else," she confessed in a post on The Tig (via Express).

Meghan also found that she was labeled "ethnically ambiguous," meaning she could audition for roles originally intended for Latinas and Black women, among others. "Sadly, it didn't matter," she wrote in an essay for Elle. "I wasn't Black enough for the Black roles and I wasn't white enough for the white ones, leaving me somewhere in the middle as the ethnic chameleon who couldn't book a job." Oh, Hollywood.

Fortunately at some point, Meghan had a revelation about her own unique beauty. While at an audition, a casting director advised her to "know that you're enough," saying, "Less makeup, more Meghan."

As fans of the royal family know, Prince Harry wasn't Meghan Markle's first husband. That would be Trevor Engelson, who Meghan married on Sept. 10, 2011 in Jamaica, according to Us Weekly. Engelson is a film producer who founded the production company Underground Films, and he is known for his work on the series Snowfall (via Life & Style). 

Unfortunately, though the pair loved each other, the two couldn't make it work. "Meghan landed her role in Suits just a few months before they married, and despite being together for six years before getting hitched, things started to fall apart not long after the wedding," a source told Woman's Day. "They really battled with long distances." That's because Engelson was back in Los Angeles, and Meghan was living in Toronto where Suits filmed.

While it's sad that Meghan's first marriage didn't last, at least now we all know it's because she was meant to be with someone else.

The main thing that Meghan Markle is known for outside of her royal connection is her work on the USA legal dramady Suits. As she tells it, she absolutely loved being a part of the show, which was nuanced and sensitive in its approach to casting. "It's the Goldilocks of my acting career — where finally I was just right," Meghan explained in an essay she penned for Elle.

Meghan starred on Suits from 2011 through 2018, as noted by IMDb. Sadly, Meghan had to leave Suits when she married Prince Harry (via the Independent), as senior members of the royal family aren't supposed to have commercial jobs outside of their palace commitments, according to Vogue. 

Now that Meghan and Harry have stepped back from the royal family and are living stateside in California, Meghan could go back to acting if she wanted to. But given how busy they've been with other projects (like her Netflix deal), it remains to be seen if she will.

Oh, the British press. So notorious is the institution that Meghan Markle's friends tried to warn her about how awful they can be. "When I first met my now-husband, my friends were really happy because I was so happy, but my British friends said to me, 'I'm sure he's great but you shouldn't do it because the British tabloids will destroy your life,'" she recalled in the documentary Meghan & Harry: An African Journey. "And I very naively [thought], 'I'm American. We don't have that there. What are you talking about? That doesn't make any sense.'"

Unfortunately, the British press descended on Meghan like vultures pretty much from day one. According to O, The Oprah Magazine, Meghan was subjected to brutal and racist attacks from tabloids, who often characterized her as essentially a terrible person. Yikes. No wonder her friends tried to protect her.

As you may or may not know, Meghan Markle has two half-siblings. One of them is Thomas Markle Jr., from whom Meghan is estranged, and it's not hard to understand why.

On April 26, 2018, Thomas reportedly handwrote a letter to Prince Harry, which contained some pretty dire warnings about his half-sister. "As more time passes to your royal wedding, it became very clear that this is the biggest mistake in royal wedding history," read a letter obtained by In Touch. "Meghan Markle is obviously not the right woman for you." Thomas then reportedly called her a "jaded, shallow, conceited woman that will make a joke of you and the royal family heritage." Wow.

It didn't stop there, either. According to the letter shared by In Touch, Thomas proceeded to call Meghan a "below C average Hollywood actress" who's aging, and he accused her to financially ruining their father, Thomas Markle Sr. Obviously, Harry's feathers weren't ruffled and the wedding proceeded, but boy, was this a mean-spirited jab.

Meghan Markle has unfortunately had to put up with everything that her half-sister, Samantha Markle, has done to harm her. Namely, Samantha wrote and published a supposedly tell-all book about Meghan entitled The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister. 

Meghan opened up about her relationship with her sister to Oprah Winfrey and weighed in on whether or not she felt betrayed. "When you talk about betrayal, betrayal comes from someone that you have a relationship with," she revealed in the March 2021 interview, as reported by CBS News. She noted that it would be "very hard to tell all when you don't know me."

Meghan didn't offer much more to say about it, citing the fact that she just doesn't communicate with Samantha. "I don't feel comfortable talking about people that I really don't know," she continued. "I mean, the last time I saw her must have been at least 18, 19 years ago. And before that, ten years before that."

The Markle family drama didn't stop with Meghan Markle's half-siblings, as she and her father, Thomas Markle Sr., have a bit of a strained relationship. The reason? Not surprising to anyone, it has to do with the tabloid press.

Meghan explained to Oprah Winfrey that the press made it their mission to find out everything about her after she and Prince Harry started dating, and that included locating her parents. Indeed they did exactly that and took it a step further when they found her father. "And from that point, the tabloids, they moved into the apartment next door and across from him," she recalled in an interview with CBS News. "Descended on this small town, which is giving him gifts. The whole thing brings us to where we are today."

While Thomas did break down and talk to the press, as noted by TMZ, he reportedly lied to Meghan about doing so. And that appears to be why Meghan and Thomas reportedly aren't exactly on the best of terms.

In January of 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shocked the world when they announced their intentions to essentially abdicate. "We intend to step back as 'senior' members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen," they said in a statement. 

Harry and Meghan also explained their plan to split their time North America and Europe. "This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity," they added.

Meghan and Harry eventually settled into their new home in Santa Barbara, as noted by Harper's Bazaar. And while it proved to be the right move for them and their children, it's still sad that royal life wasn't working for the couple.

One of the biggest bombshells that dropped in Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's March 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey was that Meghan's mental health took a hit while at the palace. "I was ashamed to say it at the time and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry. But I knew that if I didn't say it — then I would do it," she revealed. "I just didn't want to be alive anymore." We're so sorry to hear you went though that, Meghan.

To make matters worse, when Meghan tried to get help for herself, her requests fell on deaf ears. "I said that I've never felt this way before, and I need to go somewhere," she continued. "And I was told that I couldn't, that it wouldn't be good for the institution." And by institution, she presumably meant the monarchy and its employees. No wonder she and Harry stepped back from their roles as senior royals and made a life for themselves in America.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

Another revelation that we learned from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's 2021 tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey had to do with Baby Archie. Unlike his first cousins, Meghan and Harry's son isn't called Prince Archie. He's called Master Archie, as the palace never gave him an HMH title. And while the press made it look like that was Meghan and Harry's choice at the time (via Insider), Meghan said it wasn't — why would they forego the security that comes with such a title? 

But wait, there's more, and it just gets worse. "All around this same time — we have in tandem the conversation of, 'He won't be given security, he's not going to be given a title,' and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born," Meghan explained. We'll let you put two and two together on that one.

In November of 2020, Meghan Markle did something incredibly brave: She opened up about having a miscarriage months earlier in July. As she tells it, she went to pick up Baby Archie from his crib when she felt pain in her abdomen. "I dropped to the floor with him in my arms, humming a lullaby to keep us both calm, the cheerful tune a stark contrast to my sense that something was not right," she wrote in an essay for The New York Times. "I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second." We're so sorry for your loss, Meghan.

Naturally, Meghan and Prince Harry immediately sought medical help. "Hours later, I lay in a hospital bed, holding my husband's hand. I felt the clamminess of his palm and kissed his knuckles, wet from both our tears," she continued. "I tried to imagine how we'd heal."

Meghan hoped that, by sharing her story with the world, she could help to reduce the stigma and shame that often come with having a miscarriage. "In being invited to share our pain, together we take the first steps toward healing," she added.